NSU-Broken Arrow offers development workshops

(Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) -- Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow will be the host site for free professional development opportunities for Oklahoma third through 12th grade math teachers this summer June 12-15 and July 24-26.

The workshops are part of the Oklahoma Mathematics Advancement Project, a three-year Mathematics Science Partnership Grant funded by the National Department of Education through the Oklahoma State Department of Education at $550,000 per year.

The grant was awarded to Dr. Martha Parrott, Professor of Mathematics and Assistant Dean of the NSU Greg Wadley College of Science and Health Professions, Martha Wissler and Linda Hall, project managers and mathematics education consultants. NSU is the higher education partner.

Since there is only one three-year MSP award given in Oklahoma for mathematics, Parrott said it is a great honor for the team to have been selected as the recipients. Their project is focused on delivering OKMAP professional development across Oklahoma.

The ultimate goal is to provide purposeful professional development for classroom teachers that will ultimately impact third grade through algebra II students in Oklahoma. We want our students know and understand mathematics more deeply so that their learning will be made more relevant and sustainable, Parrott said.

According to Parrott, all MSP awards must have a local school district as the lead fiscal agent. The lead school district for this award is the Western Heights School District in the Oklahoma City area.

School district partners were selected in accordance with grant requirements and include Tahlequah, Glenpool and Muskogee public schools on the east side of the state and Western Heights, Millwood and Crooked Oak public schools from the west side of the state. Parrott said teachers from other districts are invited to participate as well.

This is the beginning of year two and Parrott said teachers who have been participating in the project say they feel better equipped to provide more relevant, sustainable learning experiencesthis means more student engagement and less worksheets. Teachers say they can already see the positive impact that their new content and pedagogical knowledge is having on their students.

As we move forward into year two of the grant, teachers will continue to share what they have learned with other teachers in their districts thus impacting even more students in Oklahoma, Parrott said.

During the upcoming workshops, teachers will learn not only from Parrott, Hall and Wissler but also from national presenters including Cheryl Rose Tobey and Emily R. Fagan, known for their work with mathematics assessment probes, David Foster, author and director of the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative, and Chris Shore, contributing author to the Mathematics Project Journal Ultimate Math Lessons.

For more information, contact Parrott at parrott@nsuok.edu or 918-449-6474.